My favourite Japanese band (KAT-TUN)

KAT-TUN is a unit of Johnny's Jr., a large group of boys which make up the Junior branch of the Johnny and Associates entertainment company.The sounding of the band's name sounding similar to"cartoon"and the group's name is an acronym formed by the members' surname initials.KAT-TUN not only sings and dances, but the members also act and star in commercials.They are one of the most popular talent idol groups in Japan at the moment,and have released a debut CD, setting records in album sales.This band consists of 6 members as follows


K-Kamenashi Kazuya.His nickname is Kame-chan,Kame or Kazuya.He was born on 23 February,1986.His animal symbol is a turtle because his nickname means turtle.He is one of two most popular members of KAT-TUN.Although he is the youngest member of KAT-TUN,he is considered the group's unofficial "leader". He is good at public speaking and often speaks as MC for KAT-TUN on TV programs or concerts.In 2005 he starred in Gokuzen 2 with Jin and won best male supporting actor. In 2005's winter season he starred in Kindaichi Shounen no Jikendo (2005) and Nobuta wo Produce with Yamashita Tomohisa (Yamapi) from NewS. He won best male lead actor for his role as Kiritani Shuuji in Nobuta wo Produce. Kame joined Yamapi and released the single "Seishun Amigo" under the temporary unit Shuuji to Akira. The single contains the ending theme of Nobuta wo Produce, Kame's Kizuna from Gokusen and Yamapi's Colorful from Dragon Zakura. The single sold over one million copies in four weeks, earning the No. 1 best selling single on the Oricon Charts of 2005. During summer of 2006, Kame stared in 'Sapuri'(Supplement) and drama special "Yuuki" that aired during 2006's 24 hour television. His new drama 'Tatta Hitotsu no Koi', also starring KAT-TUN's second T, Koki, started on October 14, 2006. He is good at playing baseball and has represented Japan in the junior leagues. He does a good imitation of Donald Duck.

A-Akansihi Jin.His nickname is Jin or Hitoshi.He was born on 4 July,1984. His animal symbol is a pig because he often eats everything.Not have food that he hates.He is one of the two most famous KAT-TUN members due to his looks and his voice. He plays the guitar, and writes many songs for himself and KAT-TUN ("Care", "Hesitate", "Love or Like, "Murasaki""). He often takes the hardest parts of the songs because of his impressive vocal range, especially when compared to his bandmates' limited ones. He starred in Gokusen 2 with Kame, Anego, and a dorama special called Kurisumasu Nante Daikirai (I Hate Christmas). A recent development, Jin is on hiatus starting on 12 October 2006; the hiatus will last for 6 months or more, the reason given being that he is taking time off to go overseas to study language. Johnny's Entertainment has already held an official conference to announce it.

T-Taguchi Junnosuke.His nickname is Junno.He was born on 29 November,1985.His animal symbol is a giraffe because he is the tallest member in this band.He is currently addicted to tap dancing. His trademarks are the acrobatic stunts he performs in their shows. Despite being the tallest of them all, Junno also has his smile, which has been described as 'invincible'. In 2004, Junno injured his knee and had to take a few months' break from group activities after surgery. Junno has acted alongside his senior from SMAP Nakai Masahiro's film "Mohouhan" (The Copycat) in 2002. He also starred in "Ganbatte Ikimasshoi" with Nishikido Ryo from NewS and in drama special Happy!.He is interested in billards and participated in an official game, coming in with a respectable placing. He is also interested in the drums.

T-Tanaka Koki.His nickname is Koki.He was born on 5 November,1985.His animal symbol is a cat because he looks like a cat.He is the main rapper of the group. He writes most of the rap lyrics in their recent original songs and has started to write his own solo rap songs. He writes under the penname "Joker". His style is hip-hop, and he likes to portray a cuddly personality that is at odds with his image. Koki pairs up with Nakamaru often and they have a comedic unit called TaNaka (TAnaka - NAKAmaru). Recently he starred as 'Kazuya' of the dorama 'My*boss My*hero' with Nagase Tomoya (TOKIO) and Tegoshi Yuya. His latest drama is Tatta Hitotsu no Koi. He will also be staring in a drama special called Byakkotai. with Yamashita Tomohisa that will air at the beginning of 2007.

U-Ueda Tatsuya.His nickname is Ueda or Tat-chan.He was born on 4 October,1983.His animal symbol is a donkey because his feature looks like a donkey.He was the official leader of the group, but he stepped down shortly after KAT-TUN's formation.He is one of the most striking members of KAT-TUN and he tends to change his image a lot. He is learning the English and French languages.It is rumored among his fans that it is highly possible that Ueda could be the mysterious "SPIN" who has written countless KAT-TUN songs such as "Le Ciel" and "GOLD". It would make sense if Ueda turned out to be SPIN, because he speaks or is learning French as well as English, and therefore could well have written the French lyrics in "Le Ciel". However, no other concrete evidence has surfaced to support this rumor. He is most famous for his solo performance Love in Snow as well as his piano and guitar skills among KAT-TUN fans. So far, he is the only member of KAT-TUN who hasn't stared in a dorama yet. Recently he is doing gintore (muscle training) for boxing which seems to be influence of Dream Boys.

N-Nakamaru Yuichi.His nickname is Yuichi,Nakama or Maru.He was born on 4 September,1983.He is the oldest member of KAT-TUN.His animal symbol is a koala(a bear in Australia) because he has a big nose and his face looks like a koala too.He is known for his good sense of humor. He is in the TaNaka comedy unit with Koki. Nakamaru's trademark skill is his human beatbox (sound of beats he creates with his mouth), which is incorporated into many of KAT-TUN's songs. It seems that he has been learning this skill for many years and he spends much of his free time practising. His ability to beatbox has made him stand out recently, earning him more fans and popularity. To add to his growing popularity, he has recently begun writing songs for KAT-TUN (such as "Understandable"), incorporating his beatbox style whenever possible. Rumor has it that Nakamaru replies to fan mail.

Before joining KAT-TUN, each member belonged to different Junior units. In 2001, KinKi Kids member Koichi Domoto personally picked 6 Johnny's Jr. members to be his back dancers in the NHK music program, Pop Jam. He chose Kamenashi, Akanishi, Taguchi, Tanaka, Ueda and Nakamaru to be his back dancers and gave them the unit name KAT-TUN.Initially, KAT-TUN was only meant to be a dancing unit to support Koichi Domoto. However, KAT-TUN gained a great deal of attention so the formation was kept and KAT-TUN remains a solid unit.

Their Releases

Their debut was announced January 29, 2006. This was a long-awaited event for both the members and their fans. The debut is to be accompanied by a concert tour of Japan. Release Date: March 22, 2006
Single: "Real Face"
Album: "Best of KAT-TUN"
DVD: "Real Face Film"

With the release of their album, single and DVD, KAT-TUN broke numerous records. "Best of KAT-TUN" debuted with sales of 726,882 copies, "Real Face" debuted with 1,026,372 copies, and "Real Face Film" debuted with 374 202 copies. With these releases, KAT-TUN topped all three charts, only the second artist to do so in the history of the Oricon Charts (the first artist to do so was Ayumi Hamasaki). They hold the records for the highest single debut sales as well as the record for highest DVD debut sales. Their single "Real Face" topped the Oricon charts for 3 weeks, making them the first artist in the millennium to do so. Their single sold over one million copies in nine weeks.I feel happy very much.They have the most success in their life.

KAT-TUN released their 2nd single on July 19, 2006 entitled "SIGNAL" with its carrier single "Signal" featured on their new DoCoMo CM - DoCoMo Foma 902is that have 546,392 copies sold

They will soon be releasing their 3rd new single - "Bokura no Machi de" (In Our Town). This single includes the theme song from Tatta Hitotsu no Koi starring Kamenashi on 7th December,2006,but this single is different from others beacause this single hasn't Jin.

KAT-TUN has released two of their concerts in DVD/VHS format:
- Okayusama wa Kami Sama- Concert 55Nin Ai no Request Kotaete!! (2003)
- KAT-TUN Live Kaizokuban (2005)
A DVD of their musical with another Johnny's group NewS, SUMMARY, was also released in 2005.
They have been featured in other DVD/VHS releases of Johnny's debuted groups' concerts and musicals (SHOCK Digest and DREAM BOY) in the past.

PICTORIAL BOOK

KAT-TUN's first pictorial book, entitled KAT-TUN 1st in New York (photographer Harumi Yoshimura) was published in December 2003 by Wani Books.

Activities

TV SHOWS
In 2005, KAT-TUN become regular participants in the variety show Utawara HOT Hit 10 formerly known as Minna no Terebi, with another Johnny's member, Matsumoto Jun from ARASHI. They also host the Shounen Club on NHK. Other TV shows they have appeared on include Yoru Mo Hippare and Hadaka no Shounen.
In early 2005, Kamenashi and Akanishi starred in the popular high-school themed TV drama series, Gokusen 2alongside senior actress Yukie Nakama and other young actors. The show received much attention from the media and elevated not only Kamenashi and Akanishi's own popularities but the popularity of the group as well.
During the spring of 2005, Akanishi went on to play a role as an intern in a manga based drama, titled Anego.
In the Fall season 2005, Kamenashi starred alongside NewS member Tomohisa Yamashita in a TV drama series Nobuta wo Produce.
Taguchi starred in a TV drama called Ganbatte Ikimasshoi alongside with Anne Suzuki and NewS member Nishikido Ryo. He replaced NewS member Uchi Hiroki in the series, who was suspended 4 episodes in for underage drinking charges. Taguchi was also on a special called "Happy!". It is confirmed that Taguchi will be in a sequel to Happy! called Happy! 2.
Kamenashi starred in a TV drama called Sapuri 2006 with Ito Misaki. It ended September 18th, 2006.
Tanaka Koki also starred in a drama recently, called My Boss My Hero co-starring Nagase Tomoya of TOKIO and Tegoshi Yuya of NewS. It ended September 16th, 2006.
Together, Koki and Kamenashi will act alongside each other in a new Fall drama with Erika Toda and Ayase Haruka in Tatta Hitotsu no Koi. It begins October 14th, 2006.

RADIO

KAT-TUN Style
Host: Tanaka Koki and Taguchi Junnosuke

R-One KAT-TUN
Wednesday 24:00 - 24:30 　Ueda Tatsuya + Nakamaru Yuichi

MUSICALS
KAT-TUN has appeared in numerous musicals. The most famous one is perhaps SHOCK (lead star Koichi Domoto). In 2004, they backed up Hideaki Takizawa in his first solo musical, DREAM BOY. The musical's lead was given to Kamenashi Kazuya in 2005, as Takizawa was busy shooting the Taiga drama Yoshitsune. SUMMARY is yet another musical in which KAT-TUN performed with other groups including NewS.
KAT-TUN's latest musical was called "DREAM BOYS 2006" which was co-starred by Kanjani8

CONCERTS
Since getting the opportunity to perform their own concert for the first time 2002, KAT-TUN regularly held concerts during almost every season of the year in Japan. This helped them gain more popularity with the fans. It was considered remarkable for a non-debuted Johnny's group to be able to hold its own concerts. Their first major concert was called LIVE KAIZOKUBAN, held in early 2005, which was followed by their debut concert tour called REAL FACE CONCERT TOUR in spring 2006.

COMMERCIALS
KAT-TUN regularly starred in TV commercials of two brands, Crunky (chocolate wafer/cookie snack) and +X (flavored chewing gum) by Lotte.
Kamenashi and Akanishi also starred in the Nintendo commercial for "Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix," a game based loosely on the hit arcade series, created for the Nintendo GameCube game console, as well as an Oronamin C commercial with Ueto Aya and various DoCoMo cellphone ads.
KAT-TUN have also appeared in commercials for a line of lipgloss and contact solutions by Rohto.
Akanishi and Tanaka starred in commercials for Rohto "OXY".
Kamenashi starred in a commercial for Rohto "Zi".
Latest DoCoMo 9 Series CM with new single 'Signal'.
Ueda starred the commercial for Rohto Fruits.
Junnosuke starred in the commercial for Colo Galita
Junnosuke and Nakamaru starred in the Sky Perfect TV commercial

PHOTO SHOOTS
Every month, KAT-TUN is featured in various Japanese idol magazines (usually targeted for girls), such as Wink up, Potato, Duet, Popolo, Myojo and Non-No. Recently, individual members and the whole group have also started to appear in male fashion and television-related magazines as well.. Kamenashi played the lead role in Dream Boy 2006, with major supporting roles by Shibutani Subaru, Nikishido Ryo and Akanishi Jin.

KAT-TUN are not only famous in Japan, but also in other parts of Asia and they are known to J-pop enthusiasts in Europe and the North America, thanks to technology (particularly the Internet, there are various websites, fanlistings and forums dedicated to KAT-TUN). Despite the fact that a professional debut was missing from their career, KAT-TUN's popularity was huge. Their first concert tickets were immediately sold out and they continued to hold concerts every year. Before they debuted, the media attention on them was equal to a senior Johnny's group, which was practically unheard of.